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1 The average American generates approximately 4.5 pounds of garbage per day, for a total of 196 million tons of trash per year, most of which ends up in landfills (Shortridge, 1993). Various government and private programs have been organized to divert part of this garbage (metals, plastics, paper and cardboard, and yard and food wastes) from landfills by recycling. Yard and food wastes often are recycled as compost. A 1991-1992 landfill survey showed that yard waste made up 33.8 percent of the City of Albuquerque’s residential solid waste stream (Romo, Cave, and Watkins, 1992). During the same period, the city’s wastewater treatment facility was treating more than 50 million gallons of mixed residential and industrial wastewater daily, producing about 22 dry tons of stabilized biosolids (sludge) per day. To address these solid waste problems, the City of Albuquerque dedicated a state-of-the-art municipal com-post facility in early 1992. Since then, portions of the source-separated landscape wastes (2,500 ton/year of yard trimmings) have been combined with biosolids (9,700 ton/year) and horse track manure (3,600 ton/ year) at the facility to create an EPA-certified (Class A) biosolid compost (Glass, 1997). In 1996, the same facility began making a green waste compost using urea (fertilizer) instead of biosolids as a nitrogen source. Other municipal composting operations in New Mexico are located at Artesia, Los Alamos, Alamogordo, Carlsbad, and Tucumcari (Baker, 1998). A number of private companies compost yard wastes, and permits are pending for other municipal composting programs. COMPOSTING VERSUS LANDFILLING Yard wastes and biosolids not only occupy valuable space in landfills, but they also decompose, which can result in the production of methane gas and leachates that pollute the environment. Also, collection of yard waste is expensive. Recycling these organic wastes as composts benefits the environment, and financial re-turns from the sale of municipal composts can help offset the costs of collection and processing. Recycling the composts back on city parks, in local gardens, on farms, or for revegetation of disturbed lands, also can make such entities more sustainable. THE COMPOSTING PROCESS Composting is the aerobic, biological degradation and oxidation of organic wastes such as manures, biosolids, food scraps, and yard trimmings by various naturally occurring microorganisms under controlled conditions which results in a stabilized, humus-like material.1 Municipal solid waste composting is composting on a community-wide scale. Most municipal solid waste composting facilities in New Mexico are source-sepa-rated operations where yard wastes are separated from other wastes such as cans and plastic. Biosolid composts are co-composted products where biosolids are com-bined with yard wastes. Green waste composts gener-ally only involve yard wastes and the possible addition of a nitrogen fertilizer. Optimum composting conditions involve a balance of six factors: (1) the carbon:nitrogen ratios of feed-stocks, (2) particle size, (3) oxygen, (4) moisture, (5) temperature, and (6) time. The composting process involves the generation of heat, production of carbon dioxide, loss of water vapor, loss of mass (waste), and production of a relatively stable humus that is free of offensive odors. Description and Use of Municipal Solid Waste Composts in New Mexico George W. Dickerson, Extension Horticulture Specialist 1 The criteria for “stabilized” compost vary somewhat, but in general, a compost is considered stable when the temperature in a static pile remains at or near ambient air temperatures for several days; moisture content is about 50 percent; and oxygen content is more than 5 percent.
Object Description
Title | Description and use of municipal solid waste composts in New Mexico |
Series Designation | Circular 562 |
Description | Circular containing general information on municipal solid waste, methods of composting that waste, and uses for the resulting compost. |
Subject | Waste products as fertilizer--New Mexico; Compost--New Mexico; MSW composts (NAL); New Mexico |
Creator | Dickerson, G. W. (George W.) |
Digital Publisher | New Mexico State University Library |
Rights | Copyright, NMSU Board of Regents. |
Collection | NMSU Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station Publications |
Digital Identifier | UAAPc0CR562 |
Source | http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_circulars/circ562.pdf |
Type | Text |
Format | application/pdf |
Language | eng |
Page Description
Title | Page 1 |
Series Designation | Circular 562 |
Subject | Waste products as fertilizer--New Mexico; Compost--New Mexico; MSW composts (NAL); New Mexico |
Creator | Dickerson, G. W. (George W.) |
Digital Publisher | New Mexico State University Library |
Rights | Copyright, NMSU Board of Regents. |
Collection | NMSU Cooperative Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station Publications |
Is Part Of | Description and use of municipal solid waste composts in New Mexico |
Type | Text |
Format | application/pdf |
Language | eng |
OCR | 1 The average American generates approximately 4.5 pounds of garbage per day, for a total of 196 million tons of trash per year, most of which ends up in landfills (Shortridge, 1993). Various government and private programs have been organized to divert part of this garbage (metals, plastics, paper and cardboard, and yard and food wastes) from landfills by recycling. Yard and food wastes often are recycled as compost. A 1991-1992 landfill survey showed that yard waste made up 33.8 percent of the City of Albuquerque’s residential solid waste stream (Romo, Cave, and Watkins, 1992). During the same period, the city’s wastewater treatment facility was treating more than 50 million gallons of mixed residential and industrial wastewater daily, producing about 22 dry tons of stabilized biosolids (sludge) per day. To address these solid waste problems, the City of Albuquerque dedicated a state-of-the-art municipal com-post facility in early 1992. Since then, portions of the source-separated landscape wastes (2,500 ton/year of yard trimmings) have been combined with biosolids (9,700 ton/year) and horse track manure (3,600 ton/ year) at the facility to create an EPA-certified (Class A) biosolid compost (Glass, 1997). In 1996, the same facility began making a green waste compost using urea (fertilizer) instead of biosolids as a nitrogen source. Other municipal composting operations in New Mexico are located at Artesia, Los Alamos, Alamogordo, Carlsbad, and Tucumcari (Baker, 1998). A number of private companies compost yard wastes, and permits are pending for other municipal composting programs. COMPOSTING VERSUS LANDFILLING Yard wastes and biosolids not only occupy valuable space in landfills, but they also decompose, which can result in the production of methane gas and leachates that pollute the environment. Also, collection of yard waste is expensive. Recycling these organic wastes as composts benefits the environment, and financial re-turns from the sale of municipal composts can help offset the costs of collection and processing. Recycling the composts back on city parks, in local gardens, on farms, or for revegetation of disturbed lands, also can make such entities more sustainable. THE COMPOSTING PROCESS Composting is the aerobic, biological degradation and oxidation of organic wastes such as manures, biosolids, food scraps, and yard trimmings by various naturally occurring microorganisms under controlled conditions which results in a stabilized, humus-like material.1 Municipal solid waste composting is composting on a community-wide scale. Most municipal solid waste composting facilities in New Mexico are source-sepa-rated operations where yard wastes are separated from other wastes such as cans and plastic. Biosolid composts are co-composted products where biosolids are com-bined with yard wastes. Green waste composts gener-ally only involve yard wastes and the possible addition of a nitrogen fertilizer. Optimum composting conditions involve a balance of six factors: (1) the carbon:nitrogen ratios of feed-stocks, (2) particle size, (3) oxygen, (4) moisture, (5) temperature, and (6) time. The composting process involves the generation of heat, production of carbon dioxide, loss of water vapor, loss of mass (waste), and production of a relatively stable humus that is free of offensive odors. Description and Use of Municipal Solid Waste Composts in New Mexico George W. Dickerson, Extension Horticulture Specialist 1 The criteria for “stabilized” compost vary somewhat, but in general, a compost is considered stable when the temperature in a static pile remains at or near ambient air temperatures for several days; moisture content is about 50 percent; and oxygen content is more than 5 percent. |